In a discussion with Jim Thatcher and Andrew Kirkpatrick the issue of multiple labels (explicit labels using LABEL "for") for one form control came up. It is possible to provide more than one LABEL element for a control by using the same id value in the "for" attribute more than once. The HTML 4.01 specification [1] says "More than one LABEL may be associated with the same control by creating multiple references via the for attribute." However, XForms 1.0 [2] appears to only intend a single label per form control.
My initial response was that it is unspecified which label should be read. Andrew in a quick test said "JAWS and WindowsEyes treat the label differently, JAWS reads the first and WindowsEyes reads the latter." Jim says _both_ should be read. As a starting proposal I suggest we should permit multiple form labels, but I think this requires further discussion.
[1] http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/interact/forms.html#edef-LABEL
[2] http://www.w3.org/TR/2003/REC-xforms-20031014/slice8.html#ui-commonelems-label
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Michael Cooper
Accessibility Product Manager, Watchfire
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